To Survive
by geekfreakshinobi
Summary: To support her sick mother, 5 year old Haruno Sakura joined the Konoha Shinobi Force to partake in the Third Shinobi War. Under the guidance of her commander and teacher Uchiha Itachi, Sakura started her career as an undercover agent at Earth Country at 6 years old. However, the more she worked for her village, the more she doubted if the village was worth risking her life for.


Mio was only six years old when Leaf invaded Grass country and she became the sole survivor of the family. She had no choice but to move to Earth country as a refugee. The war between Earth country and Fire country mainly took place in the small countries located in between. Hence, a lot of civilians from Grass have scattered to leave for Earth. Unsurprisingly, Earth country did not have enough resources and financial allowances to look after the refugees. But that was alright. It was better than having to suffer under constant exhaustion and fear that the enemy's weapons might pierce her, or a bomb might detonate at her face.

Earth country may not be wealthy now with hungry orphans like Mio loitering the streets. However, they did have several wealthy-looking civilians who were generous enough to hand out candies or snacks to a few street children they come by. Mio was following after one such civilian who was dressed in a nice tailored suit.

* * *

_The streets were enveloped by the crisp atmosphere distinctive of summer mornings. Sakura headed towards the training grounds as she inhaled the fresh summer air, soaked with the sweet aroma of leaves and flowers. The grass having enjoyed nourishment from the bright sunlight covered the training grounds in rich green color. _

_She spotted Itachi-sensei waiting for her, always five minutes earlier than the rendezvous time. Noticing her presence, he nodded towards her in greeting, to which she returned as she stood in front of him. _

"_You have a new mission." Itachi started. "You must infiltrate the Earth country and confirm the candidate place for sabotage. You do know what Hokage-sama is aiming with this don't you?"_

"_Every shinobi village is created by a system relying on a specific center of gravity. If we could hit the 'center of gravity' we could draw out their surrender." Sakura replied smoothly. Reciting every single word of Itachi's teachings. _

"_Good." Itachi nodded in affirmation. "Now tell me how it is prioritized." _

"_The highest priority is the top of the commanding chain, such as the general headquarters and control center. The second highest priority will be major infrastructures such as energy, gas and oil facilities. The third will be the usual infrastructures such as bridges, roads, and railways. The fourth priority would be the people and provisions. Last is the military power itself. If we could manage a parallel attack on all these 'center of gravity' areas it would give them insurmountable damage." Sakura explained. _

"_Very good." Itachi patted her head. Her sensei rarely showed any sign of affection. But on the rare occasion that he did, he was really proud. "You will infiltrate a district called Kouseki-gai located south of the Rock village, and west of Grass borders. Ibiki-san received intel from one of the war prisoners that they have a weapon manufacturing factory there. You must figure out the size, the information on workers, the layout, and the amount and type of weapons they are producing." _

"_What will be my persona?" Sakura asked. _

"_Your persona will be Mio. A refugee from Grass. You must dye your hair black, wear black eye contact. Your clothes should look tattered coming from the middle of a warzone. Get in the factory by whatever means necessary." _

* * *

During times of war, only civilians knee-deep in military business or farming business could afford to wear clothes that weren't ragged and look like they weren't suffering from anorexia. Mio thought inwardly, as she followed the civilian.

This was the fifth civilian she was following. The first and second civilians disappeared inside a brothel, the third civilian went inside a pub, and the fourth civilian entered an illegal casino. These were all places a child Mio's age was prohibited to enter. She sincerely hoped this time, she wouldn't be so unlucky.

The civilian walked through the dirty streets, expertly avoiding homeless children running around in rags, and ignoring the high-pitched voices of the vendors wanting to sell him the day's special. After several zig-zags and maze-like sideroads, she could see a short but wide rock mountain in the distance, the kinds that were located all around in Earth country. There was nothing special about the place until Mio saw the civilian tap his finger on the rock wall, and a door appeared to let him in.

What a great place to hide a factory! Mio thought mildly impressed.

The factory likely had seals placed that could distinguish the worker from the others. She remembered the exact place the door appeared and where the man tapped his fingers, but that was useless if the seals rejected her.

Mio mulled over the options.

She could wait for someone to come out, take them out and enter while the door is open. Too risky, save for the last option.

She could wait for that civilian to come out, use a genjutsu Itachi-sensei taught her, and convince him to give her a factory tour. The scenario is too unrealistic.

Mio halted her thoughts as the same civilian came out from the previous entrance, much earlier than she expected.

When he reached back to the streets he passed earlier, she rushed towards him and tugged on the sleeve of his suit. The way he tried to take out the change from his pocket, he must have thought she wanted money; her wearing only a dirty rag, her hair messy, and her body reeking of mud and sweat.

Mio was great at acting and looking poor, she was penniless at home.

* * *

_When Sakura was five years old, her father died in the war. The stipend for the family of the deceased was very low when the deceased himself was a genin. So Sakura and her mother Mebuki had sold their old home and bought a cheap one-room apartment. With the stipend, the temporary earnings from selling their old home, and Mebuki's job as a genin, they were able to live a decent life. _

_However, all of that changed when Mebuki started suffering from high fever frequently, rendering her useless for shinobi duties. Sakura had requested the hospital to check up on her mother's condition time and again, but every time she was told that the hospital was already operating in full capacity. Sakura could have grudgingly accepted that excuse, had she not seen the numerous amount of jounins and chuunins taken in and then sent back fully healed right back at the battlefield. It was then she realized, the Leaf did not need her mother fully healed as much as they wanted them. Her mother did not have special eyes to see, she did not have a special nose to track down the enemy, she did not have a jutsu to get inside the enemy's mind, and she was probably not good at killing people. _

_If her mother could not get treatment, she should at least be able to get an antipyretic for her constant fever. Unfortunately, every pharmacy she went to, most of the medicine was sold out or too expensive for her to even lay a hand on it. During wartime everyone wanted medicine, motivating the pharmaceutical businesses to charge more than in peacetimes. She did not have enough money to afford such expense, she wasn't even sure if she could survive half a year from now. _

_She had to work. Sakura looked around finding for jobs, but wherever she went, they considered her too young to work. It was when she was asking for a bakery to offer her a job, the owner suggested she apply for Konoha's Shinobi Force. They are always looking for more members regardless of age, he said. _

_Unlike the other places that refused to hire her, the Konoha Shinobi Force was enthusiastic about her enlisting. She had to take several tests, then a six-month basics training, and later she was positioned in the Infiltration division. They said her memory, observational skills, analysis skills, adaptability, and quick thinking was fit for reconnaissance missions. _

_Her commander was Uchiha Itachi, the Uchiha prodigy, and an 11-year-old jounin._

* * *

"Sir, Could you please give me a job? I will do anything!" Beggars can't be choosers. She knew that better than most. If it meant survival, she would beg every single person on the street for a job no matter how miserable it was.

The man released her hand from his sleeve. "I'm already sufficient, thank you."

He did not say, 'I'm only an employee' or 'I'm not in a position to hire somebody', the fact alone was statement enough that the guy was likely in charge of the facility hidden in that mountain.

Trying to look as desperate as she could, she clasped her hands together and cried. "Please sir, I don't need any pay! I want only food!"

There was no way a businessman would turn down such a generous offer. After all, personnel expenses were the biggest headaches of any businessmen. He looked as if he was having a hard time considering her offer, which Mio knew was all an act. Then he looked down at her and smiled. "Alright, I own a factory that could offer you a job."

* * *

Mio had been working for three days at the factory, mopping the floors, cleaning the toilet and picking up any waste scattered on the floor.

The factory had several cleanrooms where they manufactured the weapon, and to enter, one must wear a mask, uniform, and special boots. Mio surmised she could do a replica of one of the factory workers. The only problem she had was that they all seem to go in and come out at the same time. That meant Mio had to intercept the worker before said worker reached the factory, do a henge, and change into her factory clothes in the changing room with the others. That seemed like a very dangerous thing to do; considering she had no knowledge about how the worker communicated with colleagues.

Cleaning around the factory gave her an idea of the size and structure of the place. Instead of approaching from the ground-up, she decided to go top-down.

She hid in one of the bathroom stalls, made a clone of herself and had her clone exit the stall with a cloned mop. The real Mio stayed inside the bathroom stall locking herself in. She used her chakra to stick her hands and feet to the walls of the stall and climbed up until she reached the inspection hole on the ceiling. She used chakra to loosen the screws, and after examining inside for traps or loose electricity wires, she got inside.

Inside the hole, it was like a tunnel that went through several directions.

While she crawled forward a pungent smell hit Mio's nose and she had to make a conscious effort not to gag. She knew that every cleanroom had ventilation working for twenty-four hours interconnected with each other. The sour smell was most likely from sulfur used in black powder. She hastened to take out the seal hidden behind her ears, fed chakra into it and summoned her gas mask complete with a goggle attached to it. It was a necessary item when infiltrating a weapon manufacturing factory. She put them on and continued her research.

Just as she thought, she could see the manufacturing process from the ventilation hole. She took a mental note on how many people were working in each process lines, what weapons they were creating, how many of them they were creating and if there were any specific process or material that was worth consideration. She hastened to leave after taking notes as she had several other rooms to spy.

At the end of the work shift, the factory manager reprimanded her for not completing her cleaning duties. Mio apologized to her boss and cursed herself for not being able to create a better cover. She decided to ask Itachi-sensei if he could teach her how to make a more substantial clone when she was handing her report to his crow summons later.

* * *

After a long day at the factory, Mio was sprawled out at a nearby park. The place was so peaceful and quiet, she couldn't believe that there was a war waging outside and that there were plenty of orphan kids residing in the nearby streets.

She heard a swishing sound and turned around to see a black-haired girl, around the age of eight or nine, throwing kunai at a target attached to a tree. The girl seemed vaguely familiar to her. Which was strange in itself because the only portraits she's seen of the Earth country's people were Onoki, other remarkable jounins, and Onoki's family portraits.

Then a realization hit her. The girl was Kurotsuchi! Onoki's granddaughter.

What should she do? Could this be a chance? Unlike the Tsuchikage, the granddaughter had no guards herself, which was understandable since they wouldn't be able to spare manpower. Add to that, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter had a possibility of unintentionally knowing some inside information. Should she get close to her?

Mio thought of the advantages and disadvantages of befriending Kurotsuchi.

The disadvantage was that her cover might be blown, they might force out intel on the Leaf from her, and then kill her.

The advantage was that she didn't have any crucial information on Leaf's security, her mother could benefit from the stipend should she die and she might be able to pry valuable intel benefitting the Leaf's war against Rock.

The advantage far outweighed the disadvantage, she concluded.

What would Kurotsuchi be interested in? She observed Kurotsuchi and tried to make a guess of her personality. The way her face scrunched up in distaste when she missed hitting her kunai, but not bringing herself closer to the target showed her hate to lose. Her inability to regain her stoic composure after missing several hits show that she loses her cool pretty easily and she was not the calculating type like Itachi-sensei. The way her face expresses different shades of emotions in a simple practice such as kunai throwing could be because she invents a way to enjoy it.

Mio sauntered towards Kurotsuchi waving at her and grabbing her attention. "Would you like to play a game?"

"No thanks. I'm busy." Kurotsuchi looked back to her target and resumed her kunai throwing.

Mio didn't mind Kurotsuchi's indifference as she continued. "My idea is this. We each have to try and hit the center of the target five times! The one who hits more gets a free meal! The one who loses has to pay!"

"You don't look like you have enough money. Besides I'm from a shinobi household. It's going to be a boring game."

"Oh...well sorry to bother you. If you're from a shinobi household there must be pressure if you lose. My apologies!" Mio chirped and headed towards the park exit

That seemed to strike a nerve because Kurotsuchi called out. "Wait. I could do one game. But when I beat you up, don't pester me anymore!"

"Sure." Mio smiled.

After the hit-the-target game, Kurotsuchi was sitting at the ground, moaning in defeat. "How come!? You got three and I got two! It was so close! I thought I was going to win!"

Itachi-sensei had her do a lot of kunai throwing practice. It was easy for Mio to hit the center all five times. However, if she constantly hit the middle, that would make Kurotsuchi lose interest from the disparity of skills. The key to keeping the other interested was to make them think they were very close to winning. Mio knew this from experience.

"I practiced," Mio commented.

"Hey, let's do it again!" Kurotsuchi stood up and directed her gaze at Mio.

Mio shook her head not moving from her spot on the park floor. "You have to keep your promise of buying me a meal." She looked back at Kurotsuchi. "We can try for another game next time? You're going to be here right?"

Kurotsuchi looked at the ground for a moment before she spoke up. "I'm only going to stay here this week until my grandpa heads out. Then, I'll have to return to Rock."

The Tsuchikage was heading out? Was he heading for the Leaf? She knew there was a huge increase in the numbers of weapons shipped out courtesy of working in a factory, but she didn't imagine the troops using it could be lead by the Tsuchikage himself.

"That's amazing! Your grandpa must be one of the people fighting that evil Leaf village." Mio said cheerfully. Her voice turned bitter as she said, "My family was killed by them bastards too."

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened. "Really? That's terrible. Don't worry, my grandpa will kill those bastards!"

"I wish him good luck." _So he was headed towards Konoha. _

"Me too," Kurotsuchi agreed. She gave Mio a wide grin. "Hey let's go eat! My treat!"

"It's not your treat when I won fair and square!" Mio stood up and objected.

During their meal, Mio told Kurotsuchi about her life in Grass and how they killed her parents. She also told her that she wants to become a shinobi one day and seek revenge to the Leaf village who took away everything from her. Kurotsuchi told her stories about Onoki and how he was such a formidable shinobi. Mio listened enthusiastically, as she dug into the meal with gusto.

They parted that day with a promise for a rematch the following day.

The next day, Kurotsuchi suggested a new kunai throwing game.

"Let's hit the target from above," Kurotsuchi pointed to the tree branch over them. Then she looked back at her and asked, "When I throw, could you hold the target and move around with them?" Kurotsuchi walked to the tree trunk and pulled out the target.

"I don't mind...but why?" Mio questioned curiously.

"I want to imitate grandpa's training!" Kurotsuchi answered with excitement. She walked over to Mio and handed her the target.

"Uh sure," Mio replied lazily as she accepted the object.

* * *

"Next week we attack at the heart of the Leaf village. Currently, the Leaf has military bases all over Grass, Rain, and Waterfall. This means their military power is stretched wide and thin. They do not have enough manpower to counter against our best long-range fighters. We will fly over Grass, high enough to avoid detection from sensors in Grass military base."

At Kouseki-gai's largest military training ground, five hundred shinobi, jounin and chuunin alike, congregated for their pre-dispatch meeting. All heads were turned and gaze directed towards Onoki, who was floating and speaking at the center of the room.

"We attack the densely inhabited district of the Leaf village to cause panic to the civilians and pressure the Hokage to submit. In times of war, even civilians shall be deemed as combatant forces. But don't waste your chakra on them. There is no need to use your chakra on civilians when you could use grenades, produced by the weapon factory here in Kouseki-gai. Fill your scrolls with them. Throw the grenades at civilians when they are huddled up together in a crowd. That way, we have more death count with less firepower. Save your chakra on the off chance that we may need them."

Living beings had intense resistance in killing the same species. Most animals, when faced with an enemy of the same species have a fight, submit, posture, flight response. When they fight it's rarely to the death. Humans are the only species with only the fight to death or flight response. Countless wars proved the resistance to kill another human to be so strong that many soldiers die before they overcome it. During wartime, out of 120 kunai thrown, only one was considered to be aimed to kill the enemy.

However, Onoki knew that the psychological disgust for manslaughter could be vanquished by physical distance. Killing a murderer at a close range could haunt your dreams forever while killing a million innocent infants from high up in the clouds would permit oneself to deny it ever happened. After all, when one could not hear the screams and could not see the burning bodies, there is no room for repentance or regret. Namikaze Minato was considered a legend because he could kill thousands of men up close without remorse or restraint.

Another way to ease the problem was by acting in groups. Groups provide a diffusion of responsibility that makes it easier for shinobis in military units to commit acts they wouldn't otherwise.

For the Tsuchikage, the Leaf's surrender was of utmost priority. If the most efficient way to make Namikaze Minato admit defeat was by destroying human lives, so be it. All is fair in love and war.

"To cause maximum damage, we shall start by attacking the Konoha Hospital. I hear Princess Tsunade is the person in charge of the hospital. Though, even if she's legendary, there is nothing she could do to counter us high up in the air. No one in Leaf could neutralize our sky force. Not even Namikaze Minato himself!"

Onoki cackled at his foolproof plan. The Leaf would not know what's coming to them.

* * *

Author's note: Reviews motivate me to update. I read each review like sixty times! Sorry, actually around thirty.


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